Maneka Gandhi: Find a safe home for teenage girls evicted in Mumbai #FindKrantiAHome

My housing society neighbours said I am “lower-caste and lower class.” They say that my sisters and I will “ruin the other children in the building.”

Why? Because we were born in Kamathipura, Mumbai's red-light area, and our mothers are sex workers.

We have been thrown out of our home. Please join me in askingMs. Maneka Gandhi, the Minister of Women and Child Development minister to find us a home.

I had been living with my 10 sisters and 3 caretakers in a flat in Kandivali for the past three years. But two months ago, we were asked to leave. The society members said that the building is for “families only.”

I also have a family and we are also normal children. My sisters are 13-19 years old, they are the daughters of sex workers or girls who were trafficked. My didis are the staff who stay with us and look after our education and healthcare. Our “home” is Kranti, an NGO that empowers girls from Mumbai’s red-light areas.

My mother is a bar dancer, my auntie is a hijra sex worker and I’ve never met my father. I am 19 years old but I’ve only been to school for two years. I might seem like a typical teen, but aside from Bollywood, drums and dancing, I also enjoy giving speeches about gender equality, running workshops for children to prevent child sexual abuse, and performing theater at places like Prithvi Theater and NCPA.

My sisters and I have given speeches and performed theater in front of 75,000 people this year! Do I not deserve a safe home and a secure future?

We have been searching for a house for weeks and nobody in Mumbai wants to rent one to us. Everyone says: “What a wonderful NGO! But not here.” Some even suggest we leave the city.

But we were all born in this city's red-light area - we are the children of Mumbaikers. In an average month, we attend movies, perform plays, attend protests, celebrate birthdays and visit moms - why should WE leave Mumbai?

I believe that Ms Maneka Gandhi, the Minister of Women & Child Development will ensure that we have a safe place that we can have call home in Mumbai. Please sign my petition and Join me in asking Ms. Maneka Gandhi to find us a home!